A MAID IN MAYFAIR

Taranaki Daily News, 20 November 1930, Page 13

A MAID IN MAYFAIR

J- GOSSIP FROM LONDON TOWN, d MARGARET ROSE. r (From Our Lady Correspondent.) r . London, Sept. 25. 1 The “littlest Miss York” will, after - her formal christening at Buckingham i Palace, enjoy the distinction of having I. fewer names than any other member j of the Royal Family. Her doting-grand- , mamma, Queen Mary, has no fewer than 1 eight. This royal habit of multiple . Christian names is comparatively . modern. It did not exist in the days of Queen Bess, for example, and is a foible of German Court formality. Margaret is a very old royal name,- particularly in Scotland. Robert the Bruce had a daughter so called, and there was also Queen Margaret, consort of King Malcolm Canmore, who married a Saxon ’ Princess. Rose is new to royal birthday books, hbwever, and this pretty name, given the new baby presumably after her aunt, Lady Rose LevesonGower, ought to revive the waning popularity of Sir J. M. Barrie’s favourite girl name. PRINCESS INGRID. I hear that Princess Ingrid is to have a very gay time in London during the little season. Just now she is spending her days quietly with her grandfather at Bagshot. But the Duke of Connaught will be going to the South, of France quite soon, and then the Princess will come to town to divide her time between her aunt, Lady Patricia Ramsay, and her stepmother, whom we know better over here as Lady Louise Mountbatten. There will not be quite so much official entertaining for the little Swedish Princess as when she was • here last year, but a number of hostesses intend to give informal parties in her honour. Her friends at the Swedish Legation will entertain for her, too, although on a smaller scale than before. One of her greatest English friends is Lady Mary Lygon, Lord Beauchamp’s third daughter, with whom Princess Ingrid goes about a great deal. PRIME MINISTER’S DAUGHTER. Miss Ishbel MacDonald seems to have no immediate intention of following in the footsteps of Miss Megan Lloyd George. Apparently a political career makes no strong appeal to her. She has always been a “home” girl, and though she suspended her studies in order to play the role of hostess for her father at Downing Street, it was never a task which made a strong appeal to her. She has, it seems, quite definitely turned down an invitation which was extended to her to stand as Parliamentary candidate for Moray and Nairn at the next general election. Though her younger sister is not likely to marry for two or three .years yet, Miss Ishbel probably feels that her . domestic duties are likely to increase rather than diminish with the passage af time. Moreover, she docs not feel

I that she has any political bent. She makes neat little speeches at bazaars and other social occasions, but it is. always rather a trial to her and she is at her happiest when she. is out di tjie limelight. STILL DOING HER BIT. Countess Roberts, who has just kept . her sixtieth Hrthday, has always in? forested herself in the fighting forces, as one might expect from the elder daughter and successor of the muchloved “Bobs.” During the war she did ■ her practical and helpful bit by founding the Field-Glass Fund to equip with these essentials officers who for some ■ reason were without them. She is supplying another want in these times of peace, having turned her Ascot home, which she keeps just as it was when her father lived there, into a country club for soldiers and sailors when home on leave. Her titles—she is also Viscountess St. Pierre—will pass in all probability to her sister, Lady Edwina Lewin, and finally to her nephew Frederick Lewin, now a lad of fifteen. Her mother died ten years ago. A ROYAL GIRL GUIDE. The Royal Family of Rumania is seldom out of the limelight these days. Not long ago the betrothal of Princess Ileana, the youngest and only unmarried daughter of Queen Marie, with the good-looking young Count de Hochberg, was announced, only to be declared “off” soon afterwards. Now the news comes that the Princess is to visit i England to study the ways and works * of the Girl Guides, being .much interest- [ ed in the movement, and being herself J the head of the Rumanian version of it. When Queen Marie paid her visit to America Princess Ileana acted as her secretary, and at. eighteen passed with honours the final examination as a fully qualified merchantship captain. She is a beautiful stately girl of twenty-one. FILM ACTRESS’ NOVEL. It has reluctantly to be admitted that literary women are seldom anything to write home about in the matter of looks. The writing physiognomy usually runs to an outsize in features, which is fatal to feminine loveliness. A marked exception, however, is Miss Dorothy Bartlam, a 21-year-old Yorkshire girl who has lived most of her life in Devonshire, and has made the latter county the scene of a first novel, ’ “Contrary-wise.” She is extremely i good-looking, and, having graduated - “in the crowd” five years ago, is on her 1 way to becoming a film star. She perhaps contracted the literary habit from Mr. Edgar Wallace, in whose dramatic play “The Flying Squad” she played the role of the sorely-tried heroine. 1 i MOONSHINE MODES. 1 1 To the lay mind there seems little r difference between the dresses women t dance in and those they sleep in. A t special exhibition of modern lingerie in- < eluded some marvellous night-dresses, r which, had they been labelled “for the f dance,” might well have passed as ordin- t ary evening frocks. They were made [ with pouched bodices, if you please, and e waistlines, and puff sleeves, and even r trailing trains in some cases. Yards I

and yards of delicately-tinted lace trimmed the trains of many models, and exquisite hand-embroidery adorned others. There were broad satin sashes to tie in coquettish bows, just like those on the gowns you see in any ballroom. And—crowning touch!—there were specially fashioned necklaces of padded silk or satin “beads” to match these exotic creations. ■ Every really smart nightdress had its complementary coatee and boudoir beret—the latter a sonsy thing, made of a little bit of ribbon and a little bit of lace, to be worn at a jaunty angle over a care-fully-dressed coiffure. TANTALUS. At the top of Ludgate Hill the other day, under the very shadow of St. Paul’s, I saw a picture without words which might, I think, have made even Dr. Inge a little gloomier. It was a thoroughly wretched September afternoon. Under London’s monotonous canopy of suicidal pewter-grey, Londoners crawled through a sickly drizzle, pale-faced and hollow-eyed, amid a murky damp sludgy world. Standing outside the window of a colonial outfitter, looking wistfully at the suits of tropical white drill, the large sunhelmets with their puggarees, and the smartly-cut riding breeches, . was a middle-aged to elderly map. ..He stood just over six feet, spare and limber, and his skin wore that ingrained brown that comes only in the oufddor wilds. But he looked as dejected a ihortal as all London could furnish. If this sort of fever-in-the-bones weather gets even Londoners down, what must be its effect on strangers from lands of sunshine?

ONE-TAP BATHS. It is necessary to visit the showroom of one of the firms that specialise in bathroom, equipment to realise how luxurious the modern bathroom can be. All these firms are- now making special displays of coloured baths, the modern tendency being to have the bathroom decorated in a single colour, with the bath and hand basin of the same, shade. Lemon yellow and pale green baths are .especially in demand. Most of these baths have only one instead of two taps. It is fitted on the side of the bath where the occupant can reach it. Hot and cold water flow through it simultaneously, so that a bath of the required temperature can be obtained without subsequent adjustment. One of the minor bathroom refinements is a nonslip “sitting-mat” to ensure for those who read in their baths a comfortable position. FROCKS AND DANCING. Now that even the dancing dress touches the ground all round, a change in dancing styles is taking place which has really been forced on women by their clothes. It is very noticeable, now that the smart dance clubs are reopening after their summer redecoration, t”hat a much smoothed kind of dancing has come in. Girls dance the whole evening, and hardly take their feet from the ground, so anxious are they not to put a heel through an expensive dress. The fox-trot has been so much altered by this compulsory moderating that it is more like the old Victorian chassee than a vigorous

- I modern dance. Music is also under- , ' going changes to march with the new I j fashion, and it is. noticeable that near--3 , ly every dance band is increasing the ' use of strings at the expense of the ■ jazz effects, which are too barbaric for ■ to-day’s over-careful steps. i “RUNNING WOLF.” ' ' Talking to Sir Henry A. Lytton this ■ week about the coming luncheon of honour at the Savoy, at which Mr. 1 Lloyd. George is to preside, I asked him how he kept fit. Most mornings find him on the golf-links, and he fishes when he can. But he has recourse to daily exercises. / for the abdominal muscles, so that at least the Nortn American Indians’ name for him, “Running Wolf,” shall never be in vain. An, hour before the theatre he rests, and thus he carries on happily from day to day, spreading that geniality which is so welcome from the stage. For that reason he cannot bear to see even a tradesman in the dumps, and once, when out shopping with his wife, Lady Lytton declared: “That is the first time I have ever seen that man laugh!” All the same Sir Henry would I like a little more sunshine now that he is back in town. ! / ICE-SKATING “FANS.” j Among the instructresses at the ! Hammersmith Ice Drome, which is I ciety’s latest craze, is Lord Holmes- j dale’s sister, Lady Joan Amherst, > daughter of the fourth Earl Amherst*. Descended from the Field-Marshal Sir Jeffrey Amherst, who was Commander-in-Chief of the British Arm} in North America in Georgian days of war, Lady I Joan can boast of a rare relative, a step-grandmother. This lady, being widowed by the death of the third Earl Amlferst, married—for the third time too—the Polish Prince Jean Kodenski. Lady Joan is connected with the Northumberland Percys. The ice-skat-i-g of which she is such a skilful exponent has a keen royal enthusiast in the person of Lady Patricia Ramsay, who became expert at the pastime durin <r the Duke of Connaught’s residence in” Canada as its Governor-General. WHERE PRINCE REGENT STAYED. ( Tor Royal, the famous residence on. the Duchy Estate at Princetown, is to be let. Here is a golden opportunity for one of our rich American visitors. The Prince Regent often stayed there, and whoever rents the place will have the Prince of Wales as landlord. Tor Royal dates back about 300 years, for one of the first residents was Sir Thomas Tyrwhitt, who in 1795 was Lord Warden of the Stanneries, a post held to-day by Lord Clinton. For upyards of a century Tor Royal has been j the residence of the Bailiffs of Dart- I moor. Several years ago there was a I report that the Prince of Wales himself would occupy it as his West Country seat, and the place was 'renovated to this end, but the project for some i reason did not mature. Tor Royal contains some wonderful furnishings, and the view is one of the finest in Devon- ] shire. SHERRY AND SANDWICHES. ; 1 “Come to a sherry and sandwich j party at seven o’clock, and go on to the <

- theatre with us afterwards.”, Thus.-runs } the latest informal invitation from the - hostess who knows . how-, to create a s diversion. The guests nibble ■ aps preciatively at dainty sandwiches, and : sip a connoisseur’s brand of sherry. A complete long dinner, with wines and liqueurs, is not the ideal .preliminary to enjoyment of a good play. . Sherry a.d sandwiches, on the other hand, i “break the ice” and put everyone in : just that convivial frame of mind which . makes for a cheery evening. I was curious enough to delve into the mysteries of some of the jandwiches and found that such simple ingred'ients as boned sardines, anchovies, pickled herrings, tomatoes, lettuce, pickled gherkins, Worcester sauce, and French mustard went to the making of them. Some combined anchovies, gherkins and i Worcester sauce between fairylike slices of buttered , bread; others proved the piquancy of sardines pounded with lettuce and French mustard; others again tickled the palate with a mixture of herrihg. | PROFESSIONAL HOSTESSES. • Now that the “Come to Britain” movement is making real headway, and ! even triumphing over climatic handicaps ; that seemed fatal, West End hotels are ) making special provision for foreign visitors. Like most other-up-to-date innovations, these new arrangements 1 depend on feminism. A lucrative and j not uncongenial opening exists now for | well-educated and presentable women, with plenty of social savoir faire, to act as professional hostesses at big hotels. Their duties include welcoming foreign ladies, helping them to see London pro- ; perly, assisting them with shopping advice, and getting up dance, concert, and card parties to amuse them at the hotel. I can see the day cominor when the maitre d’ hotel, and even tlie chief chef, will touch their caps to' the debonair autocrat of the hotel boudoir. MULBERRIES. .. The mulberry is a curiously oldfashioned tree, seldom seen in a modern N garden. The large squashy fruit, now at its best, is for some reason seldom in fruiterers’ shops, and the housewife , who . wants to make mulberry jelly would have to make a long search before she could find a greengrocer able to supply her. I was interested, therefore, to meet to-day one of the leading figures in Kentish fruit-growing, who not only grows thousand* of tons of fruit every year, but aliso controls a jam factory. He tells me that every year he plants a certain number of mulberry trees. He believes that, by the time his sons are middle-aged, the mulberry may become a “smart” fruit, owing to the gradual disappearance of the old trees, and the fact that few new ones are ever planted. He is unostentatiously planting mulberry trees, against that' day.